Being frugal.

Christmas is only 33 days away eeeeeek most people are thinking! But not me! sorry but i am one of those really smug people lol! Having 4 children and my eldest son's birthday 22nd december i need to be organized! I started to christmas shop in September to spread the cost i bought a bit here and there and hit the sainsburys half price toy sale. I bought a lot of Frozen branded items early to save dissapointment,,..... lots of lego sets from sainsburys for the boys. Aldi i have had some corker uys which i cannot yet say here lol just in case!
There are some cracking deals about at the moment.
Argos have up to £70 off tablets and half price on a lot of toys
Sainsburys have double up on nectar points which can be used on different departments electrical toys clothes etc all you need to do is go to customer service desk and say what you want to use vouchers for.
Accesorize : 25% off with Grazia
O2: priority moments app it has a lot of freebies for halfords and whsmith and good discounts i had a 25% off bargain for an xmas prezzie on there which i was thrilled with!
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/deals-hunter/2014/11/18/trick-get-20-off-hm-pizza-express-monsoon-accessorize-gift-cards-now-to-use-in-jan-sales/ martin is a god!
If buying on the internet don't forget to use nectar e-shops to gain points if you can or - google for free postage and codes i do this everytime i make a pruchase don't get lazy!

Illness

Diabetes and Illness just do not go :-(
Eldest son had an awful sick bug on monday.... tuesday Llewi woke with high blood sugars and ketones of 1.1... bad tummy i thought he was going to be sick too ... so kept him off - after numerous corrections /cannula change/ 120 % tbr on he came down by 2pm to bgs of 7! Yesterday Scarlett tested 22 at 4am test eek, corrected and at 7am she was still high with 2.9 ketones eek, changed cannula/corrected checked blood sugars and ketones half hrly her poor fingers :-( sat and watched ELF lol until her bgs went down and ketones went then she felt like eating. GLAD we avoided a hospital admittance...

Insulin Pumps!

Finally after a 3 year wait, my beautiful and brave children got their Insulin pumps :-) in August of this year. They both started on Animas Vibe pumps a saline trial for a week then onto live insulin. I won't lie it was very hard for me and them. It was a massive change and after 7 years of dealing with Type 1 diabetes it was like starting all over again. With no levemir or no background insulin the risk of them going into DKA is higher. Also everything that went wrong at the start did! bent cannula, ripped out cannula, sick bug arghhhh! I had a bit of a Baptism of fire! The plus side is both children don't miss injections.... 5 a day compared to one cannula change every 3 days is ace! 
The downside has been a lot more testing their poor fingers are battered, and more night testing. Plus is that i can correct each time when the pump lets you and you know how much insulin on board. A huge bonus was at clinic HBA1C had gone down to 59 and 64 i was thrilled!!!  Its a long journey but the thought of less complications when they are older is a huge plus for me and makes it all worth it to keep them happy and healthy :-)

christmas is a creeping...

SO ..... christmas is o a countdown now its creeping up faster and faster.... I used to love this time of year as my eldest son was due christmas day! although he arrived early! After a 9 hour hideous labour.... on the 22nd december at 6.20am!  SO this december he will be 14. yes 14 years old. Its scary to me.... where on earth did 14 years go? When me and chris lived in our little 1 bed cosy flat :-) our little 5lb13oz baby... that cried with horrendous colic for 4 months what a shock to me! Now he is not a little boy, he has turned into a kevin the teen deep voice the lot :-( its all alien to me :-( nobody warned me how it would be having a teenager? He has a girlfriend who is lovely thankgod and he is doing very well in school top grades so i can't complain. Just seems like yesterday that my baby was cwtched in bed with me....  But i digress christmas was always a double celebration! and i think now he has all fo the sudden grown its not the same anymore. Although he is ace... he adores his baby sister scarlett who is 6.... she asked him if he had written his list to santa.... so he sat and wrote a dear santa one out in front of her and let her put it up the log fire :-) i love that he adores her that he keeps the magic alive :-) he knows i bawl at polar express and the bell! maybe i have done something right with him?! x

Life with TYPE 1 DIA -Bloody - betes times 2

so we had clinic. All went ok minimal changes suggested. STILL on mdi mulitple daily injections 5 times plus a day....  On the flipside me myself and I yes thats right ME! a mother of 4 with two t1 kids has changed all the ratios all by my very self as usual .... and i have had a week of single figures bah 2. go me! On top of this stress the comp my son is in is closing the year he takes his GCSE'S ! I am lived - beyond livid. My son is very bright set to get high grades b 's to a*'s but this move will be detrimental so am comaigning against this too . WHY cant life every be simple!?

My garden is nearly finished!

I am so pleased with my front garden now. All my plants are established and growing well and the patio is finished. I just need to choose some coping stones to go on top of the wall :-)

 

PLANTS BOUGHT FROM 

 https://twitter.com/GardeningExpres

http://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/ 

I have added their twitter page well worth a follow!

Raising a little awareness... BCCA (Be child cancer aware) and 4T'S symptoms for type 1 diabetes

My mind is in overdrive tonight!
There are so many things we have to worry about with being a parent.... and the last thing on our mind is our children getting ill. We are all quite used of common viruses and colds, sick bugs etc. But there comes times when it can be deadly to put it bluntly. I never for a minute thought that this would be the case with my children until my son got ill.... He was 3.5,  it was June so when he started to ask for lots of drinks i put it down to the hot weather. BUT he started to wake in the night for drinks, i caught him drinking from the tap, he had also lost a lot of weight his little shorts fell off his waist. I took him to the GP and despite me giving a urine sample etc they gave antibiotics.. after a week he was so lethargic he couldnt move his head from the sofa he was fading before my eyes. I rang the GP and took him down with yet another urine sample - when we got there it showed ketones (protein) and a blood finger prick test showed blood sugar levels of 33.... normal levels are between 4 and 7.... he got admitted to hospital there and then. That night we were given the devestating news that L had type 1 diabetes something that was to change our lives forever. The consultant said to us that most children of his age were normally admitted in a coma :-( in DKA (this is so true my eldest sons sister was in hdu for a week with dka due to undiagnosed diabetes) All i can say is as a parent trust your instincts

On the same vein I have to add my friend Sarah had a similar worry with her son T being increasingly ill. He had leukemia :-( - she caught it and he beat it! Leading sarah to start her own charity and campaign for awareness in which she is doing a sterling job
http://www.bechildcanceraware.org/
Not wanting to scare anyone but these things can happen and as a parent listen to your instincts xx